Attaching surgical buttresses or staple line reinforcement materials to surgical staplers is known. Trumbull et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,263,629, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety, discloses an absorbent and bioabsorbable pledget material attached to a surgical stapler. Buttresses used in conjunction with a tubular sleeve have been proposed. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,503,638 to Cooper et al., the entire disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference herein, proposes a tubular sleeve dimensioned to fit over and closely surround the jaws of a stapler. The sleeve can be made from non-woven polyethylene attached to a strip of material made from animal tissue.
McKean et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,542,594, the entire disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference herein, discloses a stapling apparatus having biocompatible fabric releasably attached thereto. The fabric can be tubular in configuration for attachment to the stapling apparatus, or can be attached using pins.
Tarinelli et al., International Publication No. WO 08/109125, the entire disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference herein, discloses an anchor, or a suture material, for attaching a buttress, which is released when the anchor, or suture, is cut by a knife.
Mooradian et al., WO 03/082126, the entire disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference herein, discloses a circular stapling apparatus having a buttress material positioned on the staple cartridge and/or anvil. The buttress material may be preformed so as to have a raised central region so that it can be positioned on the staple cartridge and/or anvil.
There is a need for reliable methods of removably attaching a staple line reinforcement material or buttress material onto a circular stapling apparatus, or other stapling apparatus, so that the material does not interfere with the operation of the apparatus, remains on the apparatus until after the staples are fired, and is convenient and easy to install and use.